A fire front over 45 kilometres wide
CFS 50 YEARS | 1976–2026
This story is part of our CFS 50th anniversary series, looking back at the people, places and moments that have shaped CFS over the past 50 years.
In January 1990, fire burnt almost 900,000 hectares of South Australia’s far north. The Pukatja (also known as Ernabella) fires came just three years after CFS established its first brigade on the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands.
On 3 January 1990, an aircraft flying over South Australia’s far north reported a fire near Pukatja, close to the Northern Territory border.
Later that day, the fire threatened Mimili. The front was estimated to be 45 kilometres wide.
Conditions eased overnight, but a flight over the area the following day found a southerly wind change had pushed the fire towards Pukatja / Ernabella. The Mintabie CFS responded to protect buildings, spending two days backburning and extinguishing hot spots.
By 5 January, most of the fire was out. Across the Pukatja / Ernabella, Kaltjiti (formerly Fregon) and Mimili areas, approximately 900,000 hectares had burnt.
Aṉangu have cared for Country for generations, long before CFS was established, with knowledge of fire, the landscape and local conditions held and passed on within communities.
CFS on the APY Lands
CFS first established a brigade on the APY Lands in 1987, with the opening of the Mintabie CFS.
The Mintabie CFS has since closed, but CFS now has five gazetted brigades across the APY Lands: Pukatja / Ernabella, Mimili, Pip-Kalka (Pipalyatjara and Kalka), Kaltjiti (Fregon) and Amata.
By the time Mintabie CFS Station closed after 32 years, 162 members had served with the brigade and responded to 117 callouts.
The distances between communities make locally based brigades particularly important. In some parts of the Lands, the next crew can be hundreds of kilometres away.
Many of the firefighters in these brigades are Aṉangu. Their knowledge of Country, tracks, and local conditions is part of how fires are fought across the Lands, alongside the training and equipment provided through CFS.
When Mintabie firefighters responded to the Pukatja fires in 1990, CFS had been operating on the APY Lands for only three years.
Today, five CFS brigades operate across the Lands, with Aṉangu firefighters responding to fires that threaten their communities and Country.